Former owner of Golden Corral in Quincy facing jury trial for first-degree murder in December

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A jury trial is scheduled for December for the former owner of the Golden Corral at 3908 Broadway in Quincy, Ill., who is accused of killing a classmate more than 30 years ago.

William Christopher Niemet, 46, was arrested in February 2020 and charged with one count of first-degree murder in connection with the 1991 shooting death of Greg Jones in Russellville, Mo.

A pre-trial conference is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1. The jury trial is set for 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 4 at the Cole County Circuit Court. A status hearing is set for 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 3.

A jury trial initially was set for July but was then delayed. The defense moved to continue the trial date after there were delays on the defense’s scientific testing, according to Casenet.

Police said new technology led to the arrest of Niemet. Prosecutors say Niemet, who was 15 at the time, shot and killed Jones, a 14-year-old classmate. Niemet posted a $1 million cash bond in September 2020 and was released from the Cole County Jail. 

Niemet’s attorneys are Curtis Hanrahan and William Nacy of the Hanrahan & Nacy law firm of Jefferson City. Locke Thompson is prosecuting the case for Cole County.

The Jefferson City News Tribune reported that authorities said Jones’ decomposed body was found June 8, 1991, near a branch of the Moreau River near Russellville. That ended a search which began after Jones’ parents called authorities when their son was two hours late for supper April 24, 1991. An autopsy found Jones was shot twice in the head.

Niemet was arrested on June 14, 1991, but the prosecutor eventually dropped the case. Niemet was released.

Niemet filed a 1997 lawsuit against Sheriff John Hemeyer and Cole County, claiming the sheriff arrested him on the basis of false information and held him in custody to “sweat out” a murder confession.

The News Tribune said the Cole County Sheriff’s Department’s probable cause statement filed when Niemet was charged does not indicate a motive and does not indicate the gun used in the killing was recovered. It notes ammunition recovered at Niemet’s residence matched the type of rounds recovered in Jones’ skull.

The probable cause statement also states deputies interviewed several witnesses who claim “Niemet claimed responsibility for the murder of Greg Jones, with three witnesses reporting Niemet told them about the murder.”

The felony complaint filed in Cole County says, “A person found guilty of murder in the first degree who was under the age of 18 at the time of the commission of the offense shall be sentenced to a term of life without eligibility for probation or parole … life imprisonment with eligibility for parole or not less than 30 years and not to exceed 40 years imprisonment.”

Niemet opened the Golden Corral during the summer of 2016. He bought the property in 2015 as the agent for C&D Enterprises of Merrillville (Ind.), LLC, and the restaurant was built for $3.74 million. The restaurant was closed shortly after Niemet’s arrest.

The former restaurant is being converted into one of the fastest growing independent plasma collection operators in the nation. ImmunoTek, which has 30 plasma collection centers throughout the central and eastern United States, is renovating the property at 3908 Broadway. 

A Stamford, Conn., corporation named 3908 Broadway Street LLC, managed by Doug Sanders and Jarret Cohen of New York, bought the two-acre lot for $1.275 million on March 17, according to property tax documents filed in the Adams County Recorder’s Office.